60 > Image 60 of Annual Register of the State College of Kentucky, Volume 3 (1885-1886)

Part of University of Kentucky course catalogs, 1865-

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. Gt) STATEICOLLEGE OF KENTUCKY. a
6
i On the morning of the 18th, while in Louisville, I read in the columns of the Courier-.
g Journal a manifesto issued by the denoininational colleges of Kentucky, six in num-
_ ber. assailing the principle of State aid to the State College, and calling upon the peo-
! ple of the Commonwealth to insist on the repeal of the tax levied for its benefit. lt is
, not my purpose to discuss this paper. I concluded that I could not do better than to S?
3 remain in Louisville one day longer, and to answer in the next issue of the (`ourier-
j Journal the appeal of the presidents of Colleges and presidents of boards of trustees lt?
li whose names were appended to the document. The arguments in favor of repeal
appeared on the 18th. ()n the 19th the plea fo1 the maintenance of the State College L
likewise appeared. The Senators and Representatives, who were expcctcd to receive
E and digest the appeal of the colleges against aid to the State College in tl1e brief
i interval between its reception at their homes and their departure for the scat of gov-- E C
L ernment, had only one day less in which to consider the plea of the State College ter
[ the continuance of State aid.
S Ou the assembling ot the Legislature, it soon became manifest that the State Col-
1 lege question would be one ofthe questions of the session.
Shortly after the Legislature assembled, a bill was introduced to repeal the tax
levied lor the benefit of the College. Early in January the subject was brought be- i
tore a committee of the House in an elaborate argument by Dr. Beatty, of Centre Col-
lege, to which argument reply was made by the President of thc College a few days hr
later. In addition to the question of expediency and justice of State aid to an
Institution owned and controlled by tl1e Commonwealth. the question of the constitu-
i tionality ofthe tax was raised and argued bethrc the committee by an cxCliief-Justice,
' one of the ablest lawyers at the bar. Reply was made by counsel. For weeks and i
l months the assault and dctbuse went on with unilagging energy. Hilton iinally the
, matter came before the House tor action, tl1e motion for repeal was laid on the table _
by a handsome majority, and thus the famous legislative contest of 1881-2 ended. I
.r\ftor the adjournment, however, suit was brought in the Chaneellor`s Court in ~
Louisville to test the ctnstitutionality of the act. Simultaneously a tcst case was
l made in the Circuit Court of Nlagotlin county. The decision of the (,`hanecllor`s
Court and ol. the Nlagotlin Circuit Court both atlirmed tho cnstitutionality of thc
tax. Appeal was taken. and the ease argued behire the Supreme Court in thc j V
i Spring of 1832%. But no decision has yet been reached by the Court of Appeals.
I 'l`ho cause of the College, the cause of superior education for the industrial
I classes. has thus far triumphed all along the line. Tliree successive Legislatures have
refused to disturb tl1e settlement of l8T$)SO.
Let us now look at tho relative status of the College in MS2 at the conclusion of
the great legislative contest and to-day. Had the assailants known our financial embar-
~ rassment. it would materially have compromised our prospects and weighted us in the { l
l struggle. Un the completion and epaipment of our buildings wc found ourselves
i $P%5.lt)l) in debt. Nearly half of this amount was due to the professors of tl1cCollcgc.
l whoc salaries remained for that year unpaid. $T.f>tlll were borrowed from the North-
j ern llanlc on personal security to meet the most pressing obligations and notes exe
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